Monday, October 13, 2014

Parley view parsnip. . . autumn

When people ask me what season I like best, I always think of
all the wonderful seasons Spring flowers, Summer fun or Winter snow. 
But I always say Autumn.
 .
Autumn in Tucson is like heaven.
Now why would I say this ?
I am sure where ever you live Fall is beautiful. 
Trees leaves turning orange, gold and then brown. 
Falling down to a crunchy carpet.
But in Tucson it is very different.
.
As A child growing up in the 1950 and all the way into the to the 70's 
we didn't have air-condition. We had evaporated coolers.
Water is moved over fiber like pads and the cooled moistened air breeze through the house to help drop the temperature.
It works fabulous when it very hot dry weather but when the monsoons 
come not so much.
So we all learned how to live in the hot muggy but much 
needed summer monsoon season.
But then came lovely Autumn.
Wonderful cool Autumn.
Adored Autumn.
Summer temperatures that can go up to 115 + 
drop down to the low 90's and high 80's. 
Evenings go from the 80's to the 60's.
Pure heaven. 
Days are warm with bright blue skies and soft cool breezes.
Plus everything stays green in the valley. Nothing loses leaves except for the mesquite trees and that is not until our month of winter.
In fact quite a few plants are blooming and
many plants are fat and happy from all the summer rains.
The citrus fruit is just starting to turn from dark green to either orange and yellow.
Wonderful.
Yes Autumn is my favorite season.
.
 Barrel Cactus
.
 Yellow Pomegranates  
.
 Barrel Cactus
.
 Beautiful squash
.
 Moonrise over Thimble Peak
.
 Prickly Pear pad and fruit
.
 Roadrunners
.
 Paloverde seed pods
.
 Mesquite pods and seeds
The best flour is made from the beans.
.
 Desert sage plants.
Not to eat but they bloom and grow like crazy.
.
 thehamish enjoying the Fall weather.
.

And just because I can here is your pretty for the start of the week.
Following with the Autumn theme,
here are The Square Ones enjoying a Halloween treat.
.
 Watson
.
 thehamish and Watson having fun
.
Oh dear !

autumn. . . parsnip
music. .  . Give Me One Reason,  Tracy Chapman

25 comments:

  1. I ran through your post again trying to find which was my favourite picture - I can't decide = I love them all.

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  2. awwwwww thank you so much.
    I enjoyed looking back at all the photos. And picked so many I had to delete some.

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  3. Autumn in Tucson does sound different, but so wonderful! It must feel really nice to feel cool breeze coming through after hot muggy summer. Your photos are gorgeous. Especially love the yellow pomegranates and desert sage plants. And of course the square ones! Looks like they had a bit too much fun with the Halloween toy :-)
    P.S. Your comment about biting off cookie head being too zombie made me laugh! Can't show your babies :-)

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  4. Autumn looks delightful there.

    TheHamish and Watson know that such things must be killed chewed destroyed!

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    Replies
    1. Remember how much you adore winter.... that is how much we love autumn.

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  5. Beautiful pics!

    Autumn is my favorite, too.

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  6. Wow, so different! The Southwest feels almost like another planet to me.

    Love that roadrunner shot!

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    Replies
    1. I am only a causal backyard birder but some time, I'd love to travel west just to see all the birds we don't have here.

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  7. I LOVE Autumn - the transition from shorts to thermal tights has been quite quick - but I am looking forward to Spring - can't wait to see the results of my bulb planting project!

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    Replies
    1. Autumn is fabulouse here.
      I can not wait to see your bulb plantings bloom either.
      Wish I could be there.

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  8. Low 80s and high 90s is autumn there? Oh, well, weather is relative.

    I didn't know roadrunners were so small. but then I only know them from the cartoons. I hear coyotes don't walk upright either.

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    Replies
    1. Temps 90 to 84... evenings 60's So perfect.
      The Roadrunners were "younglings" they will grow a bit.
      The tails make them look so much bigger.
      Coyotes jump so high they really don't need to stand upright. But I wouldn't put it pass them to evolve.

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  9. I use to be a summer person, couldn't wait for it to get here, hated to see it go. Now I prefer Autumn, it's still warm, 80's and low 90's, but the humidity goes down so I'm outdoors more. Loved your pictures, visited Tucson in the late 90's and remember liking it very much.

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    Replies
    1. Tucson is one of the pretties and nicest towns I have lived in (I grew up here)
      but being so close to the border it is being overwhelmed.

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  10. You stated everything perfectly. Love this post.

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  11. I've never seen a real Roadrunner before Parsnip - thank you!

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  12. The jewel tones of Autumn are my favorite, too. The leaves are crunchy, the acorns are hitting the roof, and the temperatures are ideal. Archie and Boswell haven't slowed the squirrels and chipmunks down at all in collecting their winter stash. Your barrel cactus is beautiful. Can you eat the pulp of a prickly pear?

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    Replies
    1. Not the green plant but the fruit (the pink, red or purple) part you clean (spines) then cook it to make syrup, jam and candy

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